Graduation Season

Caden graduated from preschool last Wednesday. It is so hard to believe that his preschool years are over, and he is heading to kindergarten in a few months. Where did the time go? Before receiving their certificates, the preschool classes sang a silly song to the families. Caden (wearing bright blue) is in the middle back. Caden receiving his star from Mrs. Bakke, the teacher aide

Caden raced across the stage instead of posing for a picture so he is a bit blurry. When presenting the certificate, the teacher announced what each child reported as their future career. Caden wants to be a policeman.
Graduation is serious business!
Caden and Mrs. Davis, his wonderful teacher
Caden and Mrs. Bakke, his teacher aide (also wonderful)
After the graduation, all of the kids and their families picnicked on the deck.
Caden and Ryan
Caden and Olivia (both ready to get down the preschool hill on such a gorgeous day)
Caden's last time down the preschool hill--He is in blue heading into the trees on the right with Olivia and Ryan near him. We were lucky that the weather cooperated, so the kids could enjoy a final trip down the hill.
After graduation, we celebrated by taking the boys to play mini golf for the first time. Caden scored a hole-in-one on the first hole, so he is hooked and always ready for a game now.
Cole had a good time too, but he isn't quite ready for a real game of mini golf. Here is Curt trying to get Cole to hold the club and putt instead of picking up the ball and dropping it into the hole.
We celebrated another important graduation at the beginning of May. Mariah (Curt's sister) graduated from Illinois State University.
Congrats to Caden and Mariah!

Enjoying the pleasant weather and friends

Our time to leave Springfield for Indianapolis is approaching quickly, so we spent a lot of time with friends over the last week.

On Fridays during the preschool year, we gave Caden's friend, Ryan a ride to and from school. On the last Friday of school, we spent the afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese's. Here are Caden and Ryan playing an ATV game. We spent a morning playing mini golf with Brady.
Cole tries once (if at all) to putt the ball from far away, and then he picks up the ball and drops it in the hole. Somehow, he got his foot stuck in this particular hole. Only Cole!
Caden showing off his soccer trophy after the last game--He was red-faced from playing hard, running the length of the field to score a goal, and blocking several goals during his turn as goalie. We were proud and so was he!
Caden, Dominic, and Cole during a playdate at a park
Cole, Ian, Christian, Caden, and Ella celebrating Christian's 6th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's--This was as good a picture as I was going to get after a morning of fun and games.
The next couple weeks will be filled with packing, studying (Curt-for oral boards), and hanging out with friends. The moving truck arrives on June 5th. Wish us luck!

Mother's Day

The boys and Mommy on Mother's DayWe also celebrated Nana's birthday on Mother's Day.The boys celebrated some of the ladies in their lives and the return of their fire truck.

Our baby is a big boy!

Playing catch-up (again) with three new posts...

We blinked and Cole became a big boy. He is our little entertainer. We catch him singing songs, either real or made-up. Wish we could catch him on video! He loves to make us laugh. He also enjoys pretending. Nearly everyday someone in our family takes on a different role. After watching the movie Bolt, Cole portrayed Bolt with Kelly as Penny for several days. Thanks to his big brother and his daddy, he also loves superheroes/villains and Star Wars. Cole is also our careless risk-taker. SO FAR, all of our playground trips have been successful, which means no bones were broken. We wonder how much longer we will be able to say that. Cole will be three years old next month! Where did the time go?

This post is all about Cole because he has reached a couple big milestones in his life. First, he went to his last Funshop this week. The next few pictures show Cole with some of his favorite Funshop activities. We are going to miss Funshop!

Cole had to check out the masks every week. Here he is as a peacock.
The castle playset was a big hit with Cole.
Fixing a snack for Barney
Taking a turn on the slide
The second big milestone...Cole has been working very hard on using the potty. He has been very successful. It is hard to believe his diaper days are almost over. He wears undies at home, but we haven't had the courage to trust him when we are out and about (maybe next week?). Here is Cole showing off his Buzz undies and his belly tattoos for potty success. So proud!

Trip to the Fire Station

Caden's preschool took a field trip to a fire station at the end of April. They learned about fire safety, the difference between the engine and ladder teams, and their tools and gear. They also got a tour of the fire house. Caden's favorite part was spraying a fire hose (with some help from a fireman).
The boys had the chance to sit in a fire truck.

Caden enjoyed the field trip. He used to want to be a fireman until he learned how dangerous the job is. Now he wants to be a policeman. :)
Some of Caden's preschool class
Such a fun field trip!

Spring Fun

We have been enjoying the spring weather as much as possible. We've also been busy packing for our upcoming move (Kelly), studying for boards (Curt), and spending time with friends (ALL of us).

Here are Caden and Olivia enjoying a beautiful morning at Lincoln Memorial Gardens, where Dominic celebrated his fifth birthday. Caden, Olivia, and Dominic have been playing together since before they were two years old.
The birthday crew hiking along the lake and through the woods
Caden (middle in photo) and Dominic (front, right in photo) checking out the trail map after their walk
Cole enjoyed Dominic's party too. He especially liked checking out the turtles. Turtles have been a favorite animal of Cole's since a trip to Shedd Aquarium over a year ago.
Caden and Dominic
We enjoyed a morning at Springfield's zoo with the boys' friend, Brady.
Here are the boys watching a playful wolverine. The boys asked which wolverine came first--the animal or Wolverine from the X-Men.
After zipping through the zoo, the boys had a great time playing at the zoo's playground.

Caden and Cole blowing bubbles in our front yard
We'll be leaving the playset behind when we move, so we've been trying to use it as much as possible. Here are the boys swinging with Nana and Papa.
Feels great to get outside!